d sword of Field-Marshal Daun lost its value
through the letter of thanks from Daun to the pope, which the king
intercepted, and which, even in Austria, was laughed at and made sport
of.

The congratulatory letter of the Princess Soubise to Daun was also made
public, and produced general merriment.

When the pope called Frederick the "heretical Marchese di Brandenburgo,"
the king returned the compliment by calling him the "Grand Lama," and
delighted himself over the assumed infallibility of the vicegerent of
the Most High.

But the king not only scourged the pope with his satirical pen--the
modest and prudish Empress Maria Theresa was also the victim of his wit.
He wrote a letter, supposed to be from the Marquise de Pompadour to
the Queen of Hungary, in which the inexplicable friendship between the
virtuous empress and the luxurious mistress of Louis was mischievously
portrayed. This letter of Frederick's was spread abroad in every
direction, and people were not only naive enough to read it, but to
believe it genuine. The Austrian court saw itself forced to the public
declaration that all these letters were false; that Field-Marshal Daun
had not received a consecrated wig, but a hat; and that the empress
had never received a letter of this character from the Marquise de
Pompadour. [Footnote: In this letter the marquise complained bitterly
that the empress had made it impossible for her to hasten to Vienna and
offer her the homage, the lore, the friendship she cherished for her in
her heart. The empress had established a court of virtue and modesty in
Vienna, and this tribunal could hardly receive the Pompadour graciously.
The marquise, therefore, entreated the empress to execute judgment
against this fearful tribunal of virtue, and to bow to the yoke of
the omnipotent goddess Venus. All these letters can be seen in the
"Supplement aux OEuvres Posthumes."] These Fliegende Blattern, as we
have said, were the weapons with which King Frederick fought against his
enemies when the rough, inclement winter made it impossible for him
to meet them in the open field. In the winter quarters in 1758 most of
those letters appeared; and no one but the Marquis d'Argens, the most
faithful friend of Frederick, guessed who was the author of these hated
and feared satires.

The enemies of the king also made use of this winter rest to make every
possible aggression; they had their acquaintances and spies throughout
Germany; under vario